Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.06.

A number of equities analysts have commented on SQM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $62.80 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 899,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,661,000 after buying an additional 264,324 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,592,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,407,000 after buying an additional 165,370 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 612,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,961,000 after buying an additional 97,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,019,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,112,000 after buying an additional 86,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $43.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.42. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a twelve month low of $32.24 and a twelve month high of $64.62. The company has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61 and a beta of 1.02.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.24). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 0.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.